Bogotá, Part Six

Part Six:  Day Two, The Salt Cathedral at Zipaquirá, Part Two

(This is the second part of our day at the Salt Cathedral at Zipaquirá.  The first part is here.)

Soon we found ourselves at the Salt Cathedral’s main attraction, the principle sanctuary, which is enormous and, though a bit kitschy, certainly impressive in size and scope.  One’s first impression comes from a sort-of balcony/mezzanine, overlooking the sanctuary below.  As before, the photos do not really do the space justice, but one gets the idea.

First view of the main sanctuary.  Look closely and you can see the people standing on the floor below.  That is the closest you can get to understanding the magnitude of the space

Philip with the sanctuary behind

Walking from the mezzanine to the sanctuary floor below, one passes a "salt fall."  Once upon a time, we can assume, water flowed here but eventually the water stopped leaving just the water

With the people one gets a sense of scale

Upon the sanctuary floor

The cross, up close

One last shot of the sanctuary

This sculpture was on the floor of the sanctuary.  It helps to give a sense of how kitschy the whole place is

On the way out, we passed this:  it is a sculpture carved into the salt on the wall

The Salt Cathedral was interesting enough, and I would certainly recommend a visit, but I don't know that I needed a full tour of the place.  If you are really into minerals, mining, or the religious symbolism, then a tour would be helpful; otherwise, if, like us, you just want to see the place, get a hotel-sponsored taxi to the cathedral for a quick look.

Coming next:  a quick visit to the town of Zipaquirá.